Tools for repairing auto panels



y 1956 H. D. GILSTRAP 2,745,302

TOOLS FOR REPAIRING AUTO PANELS Filed July 1, 1953 IN VEN TOR.

MM W

ATTORNEY HI EMM MES TRAP.

United States Patent TOOLS FOR REPAIRING AUTO PANELS Hiram D. Gilstrap, Butte, Mont. Application July 1, 1953, Serial No. 365,432

1 Claim. 01. 81-15) This invention relates to tools for use in straightening dents in auto bodies.

In the business of straightening and clearing dents from bodies of autos, particularly their doors and panels, it is important to use anvils for disposition against the inner sides of the walls and panels and under the usual upholstery or linings. It is particularly important to provide for leverage against the outer sides, for removing the dents. It is also important to provide means for locating from the outside, the position of the anvil on the inner side, to assure adjustment beneath the dents.

It is therefore among the objects of this invention to provide a tool to meet the foregoing and other requirements. A particular object is to provide a relatively flat anvil of suitable weight for use against the inner sides of bodies and panels without removal of the usual upholstery and to provide a rod for a lever to be extended laterally through side flanges on the doors or through posts adjacent to the panels to be detachably connected to the anvil when behind the dents, for supporting the anvil and for prying the anvil against the bodies with greater pressure than possible manually, together with an index finger for locating the anvil behind the spot to be straightened.

A further object is to provide an offset lug on the outer end of the lever rod and to provide a socket in the back of the anvil for the lug, together with resilient housing for normally binding the lug in the socket for supporting the anvil and for prevention against accidental separation, but removable manually for threading the rod through holes in the door flanges and frame posts for fulcrums.

A particular object is to provide a lever rod adapted to be threaded through relatively small holes in flanges around panels for prying against the convex indents and straightening the same by pressure without anvils or hammers, said rod having a squared shank to prevent rotation of the same in the holes, and having a lateral tapered lug on one end thereof serving a dual purpose of pressing against the indents and alternately supporting anvils thereon for straightening heavier panel material.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter stated, I have illustratively exemplified my invention by the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembled tool,

Figure 2 is a schematic view of a horizontal section of a door panel having a dent therein, and lever rod inserted between the panel and lining and an anvil separated from the lug and poised outside the panel lining in readiness to be connected on the lever,

Figure 3 is a schematic view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the anvil connected over the lug and pressed against the panel by leverage, with the dent removed, and the tip of the finger over the anvil,

Figure 4 represents an enlarged section view of the anvil taken on line 4--4 of Fig. l, and the front end of the lever rod and lug.

Figure 5 is an enlarged section view of the anvil and housing with a portion of the lever rod connected, taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

2,745,302 Patented May 1 5,

Figure 6 is an enlarged top plan of the clamp plate and housing over the anvil and a front portion of the leverrod connected.

Like characters on the different figures represent like parts. The letter A indicates generally, a relatively flat anvil of suitable size and weight for disposition behind dents in auto bodies or panels and beneath'ordinary upholstery or linings, for clearing or straightening the dents, in cooperation with hammers in the usual manner. numeral 9 indicates the front or face of the anvil. Numeral 10 indicates the rear side of the anvil which is provided with a socket 11, for receiving and detachably latching a lateral lug 19, 'on the outer end of the lever rod 18 for operating the anvil. A clamp plate 12 is slidably disposed on bolts 15 which are adjustably threaded into the back of the anvil. The central portion of the plate is upraised to provide a housing 13 having vertical walls and a flat top for receiving the front end of thelever rod, which is squared, for supporting the anvil and to prevent it from rocking on the-lever$ Coil springs 14 are slidably disposed-on the bolts'and retained by heads 16'. and continuously impel'the plate and housing toward the anvil for binding the lug in detachable latched condition- In order to facilitate entry of the lug within the housing and socket, the corners of the anvil adjacent to the ends. of the housing are bevelled as at 17 which permits the shank of the lever to be depressed for sliding the lug under the housing and raising the same to permit the lug to reach the socket, and also to permit the shank to be depressed for manual removal of the lug from the socket. This entry and removal is aided by the forwardly slope of the lug. A handle 20 is affixed on the inner end of the lever to facilitate operation and use of the lever and anvil.

Most of the door panels of an automobile, have relatively thin outside metal sheets which are easily dented in collisions, and may also be easily and quickly straightened by leverage of lugs on the ends of the rods without the use of anvils, or application of hammers, which tend to expand the metal and retard or prevent the smooth removal of dents.

In order to enable the operator to locate the position of the anvil on the inside of the panel or over a dent therein, a resilient strap or index finger 22 is attached as by screws 22' to a bracket 21 in spaced relation from the lever and extended forwardly with its point 22" always located over or opposite to the invisible anvil on the outer end of the lever which is also behind the panel, while the finger is on the outer side thereof. The bracket is always in fixed location on the rear end of the lever and extends laterally from the same side of the rod as the lug. and thus indicates the direction in which the lug is turned against the inner side of the panel to be straightened in suitable position for impinging upon the dent. Said bracket also serves the additional purpose or use of supporting the rear end of any index finger over the outer side of the panel to indicate the location of the lug on the inner side thereof.

In operation, the anvil and lever rod are separated, and the outer end of the rod then extended behind the panel B and under any upholstery as E to a point behind a dent as C to be straightened. The extension may be through any ordinary lightening hole as D in a flange on the panel, or through a hole that may be made for the purpose through the flange, or through any side post of a fixed panel. The anvil is next inserted through any slit or hole F in the upholstery and latched on the end of the lever adjacent to the dent. The operator may then press the outside handle and lever against the inner edge of the hole as D for a fulcrum, and thus pry the anvil against the dent or panel with far greater force than possible manually, and frequently at points beyond arms length, to cooperate with impacts of hammer blows on the opposite The rod passing between the panel and inner npholsterm the operator then presses on the handle the edge of the hole providing afulcrum for leverage and by one or more movements-(1f the lug over the dent quickly removes the same from most panels without an anvil but when the metal is relatively thick, the anvil which is inserted through a slit in the lining of the panel may be quickly slid over the outer end of the lever and automatically latched for supporting the anvil against the inner face of the panel while the panel may be straightened by usual mallets, the anvil may be quicklyreleased'or separated from the lug, without any'adjnstments ofthe top plate, thus rapid means for removing dents and obviating lengthy employment of mechanics at high wages is provided.

described my. invention, I claim as new for Letters Patent of the United States:

A tool for clearing dents from auto bodies, comprising, an anvil for disposition behind a panel to be repaired and beneath the usual upholstery or lining of the panel, the

4 anvil havinga socket depressed into the rearside thereof for receiving a lug, a square bodied rod for supporting the anvil against the inner side of the panel when said rod is inserted through ,a hole in the edge or flange of said panel and the anvil is inserted through a slit in the lining of said panel, said rod having an offset and forwardly sloping lug of likediameter as the rod on the outer end thereof for releasable engagement with said socket, a clamp plate resiliently connected over the rear side of the anvil and having an upraisedsquare cornered housing over the socket for yieldably binding the anvil upon the end of the rod, bevels on the edges of the anvil for guiding a the lug into the socket, said lug serving the additional purpose of impinging directly against the dents'for remov ing the same by leverage without an anvil, wherethe panel is thin.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

